Susana Ellis

This is a sweet short story. Lucy Barlow is the eldest of five sisters who are short on dowries and eligible suitors. Lucy finally has an eligible beau in an older widower with three daughters of her own when her neighbor, Andrew Livingston, returns wounded from the Peninsular wars. Lucy has always been in love with him, but he is engaged to another so she is resigned to settling for the widower.
Andrew is surprised at how his young neighbor, Lucy, has grown up but has issues of his own. The characters are believable and the Christmas traditions are bittersweet and fun to read about.… (more)